13 Nights
by Star Ribbon
Summary: Riku? Could you help me piece my sketchbook together? [Namiku, postgame KH2 spoilers]
1. Night Zero

_13 Nights_

_Post -Kingdom Hearts 2 _

_Summary:_"Riku? Could you help me piece my sketchbook together?" (Namiku, postgame spoilers, companion to 13 Days)

_Author's Note: _Saica here once again. Not too much to say about this first chapter, other than there are vague hints of Tidus/Selphie and Sora/Kairi. Hrm, if it hasn't been obvious, this is the promised companion fic to 13 Days – it explains what Namine's been doing while Roxas was in Twilight Town with the Usual Spot gang. The days may not always match up with each other, but it's supposed to be the same generally – I apologize in advance if that isn't the case.

**Night Zero**

Tonight was the Music Festival here in the Destiny Islands. As always, I would head out alone.

It was something I was accustomed to, especially after my best friends and I came home. Sure, they considered me their greatest friend, but the thing is: They were oblivious to the world around them once they realized that they were in love.

...Not that it's my fault for bringing them to realize they were in love, right?

As I walked around the festival grounds, my hands tugging on my yukata (Mom had insisted on wearing one - she'd been jabbering about how we haven't kept in touch with our roots lately; I didn't dare argue against that), something finally clicked with me.

If I was going to keep feeling sorry for myself about being the third wheel, then plenty of doors would be closed. Why not look for a new opportunity and keep the other doors open?

That seemed right to me. Letting my hair fall out of the ponytail I had tied it in earlier, a smile finally crossed my face.

The festival was going to be as fun as it normally was, and nothing was going to rain on my day... erm, night.

At least, that was my plan until she came into the picture.

From my viewpoint, our adventure had been over for about a month. School was going to start up again; we were horribly behind, having been involved in the whole "saving the world" deal for a year. (To make matters worse, we were all held back a year. If that wasn't horrible, then I had no idea what was) I had given up my keyblade for kendo along with Sora, and the occasional game of soccer.

Sora and Kairi's nobodies were here with us in spirit, but not here as their own selves. They hadn't been for a month now, as they had finally become one with my friends at the end of the adventure.

That was why I was so confused. She couldn't be here, brushing back that pale blonde hair of hers, smiling innocently at everyone that bothered to look at her for more than a millisecond.

She walked up to me, that same smile still on her face. "Good evening, Riku."

I blinked. "Naminé...?"

Her face was slightly red; her expression definitely flustered. We had lived in the mansion for a year, so why was she still so nervous around me like some of the girls in school? It was cute, nevertheless. I flashed a smile at her, since I figured it should calm her nerves down.

...That was why I was surprised when it didn't help.

"Umm... I know it's weird to see me and all, but I need your help," She told me as bluntly as she had ever said anything. From the looks of it, her own frankness had even shocked her. Stepping away from me, she managed a weak smile.

I nodded. "You've got my attention, but we probably shouldn't hang out like this. Here, take my hand."

She looked at my hand strangely, as if it was some foreign creature. I extended it further, giving her a confused look.

Finally taking it, Naminè nodded slightly. Even though she was bolder than when I had first encountered her, she was still the same old shy girl that she always had been. We started to walk past the many booths tonight; it took most of my willpower not to stop at almost every one to see how their businesses had been going, as well as to not buy a treat for myself.

In all honesty, it was Naminè who broke my willpower and asked me to buy a chocolate covered pretzel. I obliged, and soon the two of us were walking and munching on one of the many festival treats.

"So, Naminè..." I began, glancing over at her every now and then. "What was it that you wanted my help for?"

She held a finger to her lips, swallowing a bite of her pretzel. Once she had finished, she began, "Welll... um, I don't know how to put this... but my sketchbook's been torn apart."

I crossed my arms, having finished my pretzel by now. "Really? How'd that happen?"

"...Tidus and Wakka decided to play blitzball one day, and my sketchbook was kind of in their way..." She sweatdropped, taking another bite.

My palm met my face. That definitely sounded like the truth, but how had they not noticed a run-away sketchbook? "I don't blame you, but how could they have missed a sketchbook?"

"It's white... and so is the sand?" She offered nervously, looking down and playing with her hands.

I sighed. "I guess that works. I assume that your sketchbook's gone forever in the water?"

She shook her head. "From the looks of it, no. It was hit by a ball in the air... and, well, the pages were scattered to the winds."

Letting this information sink in, I continued to walk. If the pages were scattered to the winds, and the book itself was in the water (this, again, was an assumption, since the book itself was probably too heavy even without the drawings to float with our light breezes)... this must mean that the pages were gone to various worlds?

"So, let me get this straight: You lost your pages, and you want me to help you find them. I'm guessing they're in various worlds..?"

She squeezed my hand, nodding. "Y-yes, that's about right. Please, Riku? Kairi'll surely notice that I'm gone from her... and I can't really rest until those pages are back in my hands, not some random person's."

With an explanation like that, it was strangely hard to ignore her call. "...Okay. My folks will be out of town for the next thirteen or fourteen days, so I think I can manage to be out for that long. But, why me? Couldn't you ask Sora?"

"I wish I could," She replied. "But Sora's just getting used to his normal life, and from what I've witnessed, he's beginning to love it again. You, on the other hand, are... restless. I can see that you want to get out again, Riku... even if it isn't for very long. And um... it's summer, right? We've got time."

I nodded. "I guess, but since you've got no one else... Our adventure to look for your pages starts tomorrow?"

She giggled; I supposed that Kairi's influence was slowly getting to her. "Yes... Thank you."

I grinned, taking her by the hand. "No problem. But you know what? I bet there might be a page here or there in this world too. You wanna check?"

"I don't think one page is here..." She slowly murmured. "I would have noticed it by now."

"**You** would have noticed it by now," I pointed out. "But would Kairi? I highly doubt it, unless she's actually not with Sora."

She glanced over at me. "I... suppose so. Where should we begin?"

"Our hangout?" I suggested.

The island was somewhere we had kept visiting every day; no longer was it my island prison, as it had been a year before. Now, I welcomed the thought of having somewhere to visit each day, somewhere to keep going when the going got especially rough during school. Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka had joined us as well, despite the fact that school was becoming more and more difficult with each day.

It... was hard to explain, but I liked this feeling of sameness, consistency.

But, if a page was there, the truth was that someone would have probably noticed it by now. That may have been the wrong thing to say, now that I thought about it more carefully.

She seemed to be in agreement with my thoughts, as her expression was somewhat confused. "...You sure?"

"No, not really," I admitted. "But where else could we look? Over here, you don't tend to show up..."

"True," She remarked. "But isn't tonight the festival...? I know you've been looking forward to it."

I paled. Of all the things she had to notice, she just had to notice _that_.

"Welllll... I guess I don't mind missing it..." I finally said, subconsciously scratching my cheek. "Come on, though, Naminè. I mean, what other chance would I get to travel worlds again?"

"That's the spirit," She commented. "But... I'd be sorry for a long time if I made you pass up this chance to celebrate. Can't we do both?"

Keep an eye out for the drawing while having fun? I had no real idea if that was even remotely possible; however, it seemed like it would be worth a shot.

"I guess," I replied, holding out my arm. "In the meantime... shall I escort you?"

She blinked, staring at my arm as if it were some foreign creature. "...Riku?"

I shook my extended arm, still smiling. "Come on."

She reluctantly took my arm, latching onto it with her own. "If you say so..."

So, even though she was so bold as to come up to me and tell me that we're traveling to other worlds... she can't attach herself to my arm? I didn't really get that.

The walk around the festival grounds were eerily quiet; I supposed that everyone was currently listening to the singers on stage (and really, I couldn't blame them).

Tilting my head to the side, I glanced over at Naminè. She seemed to be lost to the music, even humming along to the melody...

If she and Kairi were the same, would she be able to truly experience life as she is right now?

Without warning, she paused in the middle of her humming. "Riku!" Her voice was unusually urgent. "I think I see my drawing!"

I pressed my lips. "Really? Where?"

Her shaking hand went to two boys around her age (maybe a couple of years younger)... they couldn't be playing tug of war over it, could they?

"**Hey**! What do you two think you're doing with that..?"

As much as I would have loved to play "bad cop" with them, as we got closer, it was obvious that I couldn't play the role.

One boy, brushing back his blond bangs, simply stared at me with a (most amusing) confused look. "...Riku? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, man," The other (a redhead) interjected. "I know your long absence may have changed you, but I didn't think that much..."

I sweatdropped, laughing somewhat nervously. "No, no, it's not that," I said. "It's just that... you have my friend's drawing, and I thought that maybe..."

"We were fighting over it, maybe?" The blond finished for me. He grinned, crossing his arms. "Nah. You know that Wakka and I could never, ever be like that."

A sigh of relief escaped Naminé's lips.

"So, here you go. If you had just said that earlier, you know, me and Tidus would've definitely returned it." Wakka said, handing over the drawing into Naminè's shaking hands.

"Thank you..." Naminè said gratefully, her eyes studying the drawing for signs of damage. "Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

Tidus exchanged glances with Wakka. "Riku's _girlfriend_ is asking us that?"

Ignoring Naminè's beet red face, I raised an eyebrow at them, casually placing a hand on my hip. "You sure that she's my girlfriend? I mean, then you would even call Kairi my girlfriend at that rate... and Selphie would be Tidus's..."

Tidus grinned. "Too late, Riku. She already is."

I laughed. "Seriously? That's kind of... weird, though seriously awesome at the same time."

Naminè tapped me on the shoulder. "Riku?"

Whoops. I smiled at Naminè, not quite sure what she would ask me this time. "Yeah?"

"May you show me the rest of the festival?" She pocketed the drawing at long-last, returning the smile.

I nodded. "Sure thing. Hey, I'll see you guys later," I called out to Tidus and Wakka, waving slightly as Naminè and I walked away from the two.

To be honest, my mind was a blur afterwards. I couldn't remember too much... just something about Sora singing, and how he actually wasn't half bad. (Then again, hadn't he said something about singing in some underwater world?)

But what I do remember were the smiles on our faces that night. It had been a while since I had seen Naminè smile like that... and I hoped that tonight wouldn't be the last.

_**13 Nights Left**_.


	2. Night One

_Disclaimer: _If you recognize it, chances are that I probably don't own it, yanno?

_Author's Note: _ I know, I've listed this as Namiku. (And I promise, it will end up being Namiku) I just didn't think it made sense at first for Namine to like Riku as more than a friend at first – nor did I think it made sense for her to like Roxas for himself. If I remember correctly, they didn't spend too much time together – hence why I list Namine's love interest at this point as Sora. Don't kill me, please?

**Night One**

Using darkness to travel shouldn't have been so natural. Riku'd been surprised when I had originally suggested it: after all, his power over heartless and darkness should've been all but gone, right?

That hadn't been the case. Believing that his power had just been dormant, we used it as a catalyst to open a portal to another world.

... Riku was oddly late. Sure, he had brought along money (I'd never realized before now how rich he was - the money seemed to be literally flowing out of his wallet). And he did have to go see his parents off.

No one else knew that we were going. I doubted that neither Sora nor Kairi (well, everyone on this island) even knew that I still existed as a separate entity.

(I knew I shouldn't have let Roxas talk me into this! He had said that we should've run away from destiny – I had used darkness to teleport him to Twilight Town yesterday afternoon. I honestly think that Roxas just wanted an excuse to see his friends again. That's all fine and well, but he could've just said so instead of pulling the destiny card, right?)

So, Riku had told me that we should probably start the search in an urban town. It made sense logically, rather than starting in places like the undersea kingdom or the jungle, from what I remembered him telling me.

He'd really changed. Compared to the carefree guy I knew, he had become slightly more somber - he made himself take charge of our travels, and how we traveled. Whenever I'd asked him for details, though, he wouldn't say anything, just, "It's a secret, Naminé. You'd think I'd tell you so soon?"

... I hate to admit that it bugged me. But only a little, I promise. (I think)

Once we had arrived in the outskirts of the town, it dawned on me that... really, Riku probably wanted a chance to see this town again.

What was this town called again? Radiant Garden?

It was a bustling town; people constantly passed with shopping bags or construction materials. Even after all these people've been through, they're still willing to rebuild their homes.

I admired their devotion, though it was an odd feeling.

I'd never been here before. You'd think that the world would seem so strange and unfamiliar because I had never ventured beyond the borders of Twilight Town (and Castle Oblivion, if you really wanted to be technical). But that wasn't the case.

Surely it wasn't possible to know that I used to go to that park as a child. I couldn't have known that my grandmother visited that library over there – I didn't have a grandmother.

It couldn't be possible… these all had to be Kairi's memories, right?

"Naminé… you okay?"

Oddly enough, it was comforting to have Riku by my side. Glancing over at the tall boy, I smiled at him, nodding. "Yes, I'm fine."

He wasn't reassured by my voice, no matter how calm I had made it sound. Frowning, he walked closer to me, yet still crossing his arms. "You don't sound fine," He pointed out.

Well, how could you sound fine when memories that aren't even yours come in from all directions? I merely kept silent as we continued to walk; what could I say to him that would make him feel better? I doubted that anything would.

"False memories," I murmured, sighing lightly.

It was too bad that Riku wasn't who I thought he was. He raised an eyebrow; unfortunately, he was one of those teenagers who seemed to have unusually good hearing.

"Kairi's memories, huh," He remarked, crossing his arms. "I'm not too surprised. After all, didn't Roxas have some of Sora's memories while he was in Twilight Town?"

I was about to ask him how he would know about such a thing.

The memories flooded back before I could even open my mouth. I had spent a while year with Riku, working under DiZ's control. My assignment had been to restore Sora's memories; Riku had been the one who brought Roxas in my hands. At the time, I didn't think that the man in the hooded cloak was Riku – he sounded so different back then.

It made me almost wish Riku hadn't been the kind of boy who remembered every little detail about the people he spent time with. He motioned over to a nearby store, glancing down at the clothing that we were currently in.

True, they were a bit old and worn. But… I felt almost a certain sense of loyalty to this dress. Tugging on it, I wanted to shake my head no.

I didn't want to go shopping; I had sketchbook pages to find.

Why did he have to drag me in all ready?

"What's with the long face, Naminè?" He asked me, placing one hand on his hip casually as he let me go. "We'll probably be spending a while looking for your sketchbook, so why not look nice too?"

I couldn't argue with that logic. I meekly nodded.

He, on the other hand, grinned. How could I not be able to stand up to someone like him? As nice as he seemed at times, Riku was also known to be quite the mischievous kid who always knew what to say to make you listen to his bidding.

In short, he was the opposite of Sora. Where Sora was totally clueless about everything (and I have to admit, it was a little nice to see him like that), Riku had that air about him that said 'I know everything. So there'.

That clueless feeling that Sora gave off was why I had liked him so much. He... and I could never be, though. In short, these feelings I had had for him were why I couldn't ask him to go with me.

And if I had asked Roxas, I don't know what the outcome would be. It was bad enough that I only liked him because he was a part of Sora. (I hadn't been able to get to know him well enough to really see what I liked about Roxas himself)

I had asked Riku because... I wouldn't be distracted. I wouldn't be thinking about that cute guy next to me, no. I'd only think about my sketchbook, and how I needed those pages back.

Or so I had thought.

As he dragged me inside the shop, I couldn't help noticing the giggles by various people passing by. (Did they think we were a couple? Oh, please. Don't think that – it's not true. I don't love him. I love Sora… though I'd never admit it out loud.)

"Riku?"

He glanced over his shoulder at me. "Hrm?"

I watched as we stopped in front of the jewelry section. He let go of my hand (reluctantly, it seemed), letting me browse the store with my own hands. "I was wondering," I said slowly, as if not quite sure how to phrase this. "….if you'd overheard the girls watching us."

Much to my surprise, he simply shrugged. "It's nothing new," He said, grinning as he eyed the blue disc necklace I held up to the light.

"I mean, there's always people fangirling over me for reasons that even I can't comprehend," He admitted, crossing his arms. "But are you going to buy that? I'd bet it would look nice on you."

Really? This little blue disc? I suppose it had a nice shine when you held it up to the light. "Sure," I replied. "It looks nice."

He took it into his hands. "All right," He murmured under his breath, motioning for me to follow him to another part of the store.

I wasn't quite sure how he knew this place inside out; it was a large department store, from the looks of it. Citizens were wandering the aisles and pathways by the dozen, vendors were pestering you to look at their various goods… this place may as well have been another world to my eyes.

In the past, when I needed to buy something new, I just went in one of the smaller variety or specialty stores. Never had I dared of going into a huge department store!

As we stopped in front of a rack of dresses, Riku gestured for me to look through them as he simply watched. For a guy, he seemed to be pretty used to the whole shopping experience; unlike Sora (and Roxas, probably), he wasn't too upset by it, either. Hrm, that was actually odd.

So, I turned my attention back to the dresses.

As I passed the racks, my eyes didn't see anything that really appealed to me. Sure, there was the occasional dress that popped out. Nothing stood out among them.

My hands rested on an ankle-length white tiered skirt. Pulling it out of the racks, I eyed it more closely. I pressed my fingers against the material; it appeared sturdy enough. As I then rested the skirt on my arms, I headed to the shirts. Taking a shell, baby blue, tank top from the racks, I was so focused on my task that I had yet to notice his breath on my shoulders.

I merely smiled. "What do you think, Riku?"

As awkward as it was to have him right behind me, it was oddly comforting at the same time. It was hard to explain, but… I didn't feel awkward with him. There was no uneasy silence – either of us always had something to say.

Glancing over my shoulder, I turned just in time to hear him reply with a, "Looks nice."

He smiled. "If you're done, then we'll get my threads---"

"Hold on," I interrupted, taking a teal sleeveless diffle coat from the rank. (Or at least that was its name – a diffle coat would be a thick coat with a hood, and wooden log-like fastenings on the front. It's a little hard to explain, really)

I smiled, letting the choices fall on my arms. "Now I'm done."

He cocked his head at me. "Geez, Naminè," He amusedly stated. "You really are a girl after all."

I blinked, following him over to another side of the store. "What's that supposed to mean," I asked, weaving through the other customers and aisles of the store as I tried my best to keep up with him. (And if you've ever tried to keep up with him, you'll know what I mean. If you haven't… Riku tends to walk pretty quickly. As in, he often doesn't turn back when he's trying to accomplish something in less than an hour.)

"What you think it means," He retorted, picking out a silver, sleeveless turtleneck from one rack. Next came extremely long, baggy, dark denim jeans from the next rack (how was he going to walk in those?), along with an amethyst-colored belt. I tossed teal fingerless gloves into his arms, adding a powder blue quill necklace in at the last minute.

He looked a little amused at my style in accessories, but said nothing. Draping his own clothing onto his arm, he led me (more like dragged) to the cash registers.

The clerk's eyes lit up; she immediately gave us both discounts that I believed would not occur if Riku didn't look the way he did. It was only natural that Riku paid for our clothing, yet… I couldn't help feeling bad about the whole ordeal, as if I was a burden on him.

We changed into our new clothes in the store restrooms, and then walked out with our bags stuffed with our old belongings.

Something white glimmered inside my bag. I picked it up, unsure exactly what I would find. My hands brought out a crinkled page – I could make out the two boys in the picture, but just barely; it had gotten wrinkled and smudged with the clothing stuffed on top.

"A sketchbook page," I murmured in bliss. "And to think it was with our clothes."

Riku grinned, peering over my shoulder at the picture. "Huh, it's Sora and Roxas," He remarked. "Is… Sora's back to Roxas?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I confessed. "There's one where Roxas's back is to Sora, so... I figured I should do the reverse here."

I gently placed the page into the sketchbook. We finally walked out of the store (but it did yield a new page, so I couldn't be too upset). I listened to my footsteps, noticing how I appeared to automatically walk beside him.

Looking up at Riku, I couldn't help starting to ask, "Um…."

He blinked. "What is it, Naminè?"

"I'm… sorry," I responded, pressing my lips together. "I didn't mean to be such a burden on you."

Much to my surprise, he leaned in, ruffling my hair. "You, a burden?"

I blinked. "But… you bought all this for me, and I didn't really think that I needed to buy stuff," I pointed out. "I felt bad."

He attached a key keychain to his belt loop (it looked handmade; I would guess that either Kairi or Selphie made it for him as a present). "Don't worry about it. I wanted to buy it for you, remember?"

Leaning in, he silenced me by pressing a finger to my lips. "And no buts," He added. "I don't want you to protest over something as silly as this."

Two figures could be made out from the corner of my eyes. I blinked, trying to point over to them. Who were they? Kairi's memories made them seem so familiar, as if I had known them from some other place and time…

Riku sighed. "Naminè," He began, taking his finger off. (Did he think that I was just going to keep protesting?)

"It's not about the protesting," I insisted, pointing in the direction of the figures. "It's about… them."

"About Cloud and Aerith? What about them?"

So that was their names… I forced my hand down, letting the not-so-satisfied feeling claw at my heart. I wanted to know more about them, yet it didn't feel right. Maybe Riku wasn't on the best terms with them?

He blinked. "Are you really okay?"

We continued walking, following a path that only Riku seemed to know by heart. I nodded, managing a smile. "Yeah," I insisted. "They just seem a little familiar, that's all."

"If you say so."

It sounded horrible coming from him. Even if it wasn't intended to be taken coolly and rude, it kinda sounded like it. I tried my best to ignore it, continuing on until we reached some odd house by these long, metal stairs.

"Ah, here we are," Riku appeared pleased with himself. "Leon's supposed to be here right about now."

Leon? The name sounded familiar enough. I shrugged the feeling off, following Riku into the house.

Well, I had never imagined that I would be in Merlin's house. I believe that Kairi had been here before, but… me? Here in the flesh? It was odd, because it felt so nostalgic... but I had never set foot here before in my entire life.

A tall man turned from his posts at the computers. His brown hair was on the long-ish side, reaching just to his shoulders…. And was that a scar on his face? He crossed his arms, greeting us with a confused look.

"You must be Riku," He said, looking straight at me.

Riku coughed. "Um… that would be me."

Talk about an awkward situation. The man coughed, adding, "Sorry about that. But from the way Sora described you…"

"I'll have to take a mental note about that," Riku replied, nodding wisely. (I felt quite sorry for Sora right about now) "Anyways… you're Leon, right? I wanted to ask you something."

Leon brushed his hair out of his face. "All right. What do you want to know?"

"Do you know where we could get our hands on a gummi ship?"

Gummi ship… that was the vehicle that Sora used to drive to other worlds, right? It sounded so familiar and vague at the same time – just like everything else these days. It was driving me crazy.

"Hrm, a gummi ship," Leon looked thoughtful for a moment. "Cid probably knows where you can get your hands on a spare. Though, I have to ask… how'd you get here?"

"Used my last bit of darkness," Riku grimly confessed. "But that's helpful. Thanks."

Leon nodded. "It was nothing." He turned back to his computers, his gaze still on the ever-flowing amount of data contained within.

"Let's go, Namine," Riku called, taking me by the hand as we left.

I wish I could have heard what Leon called to us as he left (was it, "Good luck," or something that sounded more like, "…huh. Crazy kids"?) Yet, the feeling that we were going to gather the rest of my pages felt exhilarating.

Looking up at the sky, I smiled weakly. "Looks like it'll be nightfall soon."

Something white flickered in the corner of my eyes. I was left speechless – unable to reply to Riku's incoming words (whatever they were).

"Namine?"

I couldn't respond.

"Uh, Namine….?"

He finally looked up. "Oh, your sketchbook pa--" The reality hit him immediately. He turned to me with a grin. "Your sketchbook page!"

Taking a skateboard from the door, he used it to jump onto the stairway rails. I cringed – what if he got hurt? – unable to see what was going on around me. I wanted my sketchbook page, yes, but I didn't want him to be hurt either…

I opened my eyes briefly to see him flip, clutching the page in his hands. He landed down beside me, opening his palm to give me the crinkled page.

"Here," He said, sounding a bit remorseful. "Sorry it's wrinkled."

"No," I insisted, clutching the page close to my chest. "It's fine… at least it's back with me."

Make that especially glad that it was back with me. I could just barely make the outlines of an attempted portrait of me and Kairi together – she had her back to the page, while I was directly in front. I didn't want Riku to see it; what if he would voice his opinions on it? (He hadn't said much about the Roxas and Sora one, yes, but I knew he would have a stronger opinion on this one. He'd say something about my lack of confidence, wouldn't he?)

"Heh," He laughed. "That's good to hear."

He left the skateboard where he found it. Motioning for me to follow him, we once again continued our walk around town. (I hope this time that we were looking for a hotel). The stars glittered above; oddly enough, I felt just as special as they tonight.

"Hey, Riku?"

He looked over at me. "What?"

"I hope… we can have a lot of fun days while we're looking for my pages," I confessed.

"Yeah? Well, I hope so too."

The rest of the walk to the hotel was in silence. I didn't mind – there were just some things that couldn't be said in words.

_**12 Nights Left.**_


	3. Night Two

**Author's Note:**Man, I seriously didn't mean for this chapter to take so long. I'm sorry to all those who was waiting – school definitely slowed the progress of this chapter and ones to come. I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer**: Not mine. Enough said, right?

**Night Two**

Even though it was only morning, the twilight still hung over the city. It felt weird to be walking amongst these people; as if I were part of them, talked with them on a regular basic, ate with them at the dinner table. I never thought I could place myself on the same level, simply because DiZ and I had done the unthinkable: we (he, rather) had replicated the entire town for that nobody.

Naminé liked to chastise me every time I referred to him as "that nobody". "His name is Roxas," She'd insist, almost as if she felt insulted every time I spoke. I didn't really understand her for that. Yeah, it made sense that she would take that nobody's side in most arguments. She seemed to have a thing going for him.

Yet, I had to keep reminding myself as I walked through the empty streets, she was not Kairi. That nobody was not Sora (that, I didn't need to remind myself). I didn't need to meddle in their love lives – I'd already done that with Sora and Kairi, hadn't I? They practically**needed** that push.

The nobody and Naminé? If something were to happen, surely it would've happened by now.

The clock tower rang the next hour. Even though I was only on Market Street, that tower could be seen from anywhere in the town. DiZ had once commented on it – hadn't he said that was the town's symbol? – but never said anything after that. He didn't need to.

That had been enough to jolt me back to my surroundings. The streets were still empty; most people were still getting up from their beds at this hour. It was just me, Naminé... and apparently the stray cat she was petting.

"Riku," She said, holding one up. "Isn't it adorable?"

She was acting more like Kairi every day. I had to smile. "Yeah," I responded, crossing my arms. "I guess. You sure that thing doesn't have rabies?"

"Ray... bees?"

I laughed – how could she know about video games and modern life, but not rabies? "You know, the disease you can get from strays? Where you lose your mind?"

The cat immediately went down. I sighed; could she have acted any more like her? It was starting to get downright uncanny. (Maybe it was on purpose. I could never tell with her.)

"That I didn't know," She admitted, brushing her hair back from her face. "Do you think that we could look around the stores and see if they've seen my pages?"

I blinked. "Wouldn't the mansion be a more logical place?"

Her eyes widened; she immediately looked away, her hands folded together. "Yeah, but I really want to look around the town."

Naminé's sudden determination didn't faze me; I had seen it many times in the past, when she defied DiZ and told that nobody the truth anyways. I just… didn't think that she had ulterior motives today. What on earth could she really be looking for in this town? It was important enough that she had put the sketchbook pages aside.

"If you want to look, then that's fine. I still think we should check the mansion," I shrugged lightly. I knew better than to argue at this time. "Do you want to split up and meet at the mansion? Or should we go together?"

She smiled lightly the moment I brought up the idea of splitting up. "Splitting up'd be nice."

… Why did I have the sudden feeling that this wouldn't bode well for either of us? I placed one hand on my hip. Grinning slightly, I looked her over. "You sure you'd be all right by yourself?"

"I'll be fine, Riku," She insisted, her eyes never wavering. "You can go look at the Sandlot or something. I'm sure it'll turn out alright."

I sighed. "Fine, fine. Just let me meet up earlier, okay? Would the Usual Spot be a good place?"

"Yeah," She said with a grin. "… Riku. You actually remembered the name of his hangout!"

"Why wouldn't I know that? That's all he and his little friends would talk about – 'let's go to the Usual Spot! I left my homework or insert item that I honestly don't care about here' or 'We'll meet up at the Usual Spot and go to the beach!' It's not hard to remember something like that…"

She giggled – did she find that funny? – placing her hands under her chin. "All the same, you did remember. Meeting there'll be fine. I'll see you in a couple of hours!"

I watched her walk off in the opposite direction; I waved good-bye, then set out in the direction of the Sandlot. I probably should have checked the Tram Common or the Subway, sure, but at the moment... I guess I wasn't really thinking.

Two of that nobody's friends were walking along the same path. They were laughing to themselves about something – I didn't need to know what, so I didn't listen in. At least, not closely enough at first.

There wasn't anyone else at the Sandlot when I arrived. That punk and his little friends probably hadn't shown up for the day yet; it was just me and the nobody's friends. I sat down, sighed, and... well, started to listen to them.

"I can't believe you had the guts to play hooky on Olette," One was saying to another. His green outfit… was this Hayner? I didn't pay much attention to names back then.

His friend tugged on his camera strap. "Neither can I. Olette's gonna be so mad with me. But hey, at least she's spending time with that Roxas guy now."

Roxas? That nobody was here? I thought he was still part of Sora.

Did Naminé know, then, that her nobody was here? (It would make sense if both of them were separated at the same time.)

.,,So that was her motive. She wanted to find him.

The other two turned to leave – it seemed they were just passing by, though I had no clue where they were headed – when I stood up to follow them.

Hayner turned to face me with a slightly confused expression on his face. "Haven't seen you in town before."

I'd honestly hoped to avoid more conversation than I had to. I shrugged, placing a hand casually on my hip. "I'd hope not, since this is my first time."

The black-haired one smiled good-naturedly. "Hmm, you lost? There's not much near the Sandlot except for the train station and a couple of restaurants."

Better take him up on that offer. I wouldn't normally, but I felt I had to hurry down there – to wherever Naminé was going. "Is there a mall around here," I asked, glancing over in the direction of Market Street. "It's… kind of a hurry."

Pence and Hayner exchanged glances.

"There isn't really a mall, per say," Pence explained. "But there's a pretty good outdoor shopping center that we call the town mall. That's probably what you're looking for. I'd take you there, but—"

"Poor guy's playing hooky," Hayner cut in. "So I wouldn't mind doing it for you. Or you just want directions?"

I smiled weakly. "Either's fine."

"Then I'll take you! Pence, save our usual table," Hayner ordered, grinning at his friend. Pence nodded, heading off in the opposite direction. He then led me (as well as someone like Hayner could) towards the center, pointing out landmarks along the way.

I could see why Sora held him in high regards. It was hard to dislike someone who truly loved his hometown more than I ever loved that island prison. … There went that guilty pang again. I thought I'd gotten over my guilt for leaving… Apparently not.

We stopped in the courtyard. Hayner smiled, placing both hands on his hips. "And here we are. Hope you'll stop by the Usual Spot sometime! Hey… what's your name? I don't think you ever said it."

"Riku," I simply responded, returning his smile. "It's nice to have met you, Hayner."

Hayner blinked. "So… you're the guy Sora was looking for. Did he ever find you?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry about it now."

"Sure," He beamed. "It's nice to finally meet you. See ya!"

I watched him walk off before turning to face the crowd. Now… if Naminé were to look for that nobody, where would she be? Presumably wherever the nobody was. Since he's with a girl – Olette, right? – he'd probably be dragged to go clothes shopping.

Well, if the girl was anything like Kairi. (Getting the feathers out of my hair took a week – Mom thought it was 'too cute' to take out. Thankfully, we were only nine, but still! I hadn't trusted her with my hair since)

The clothing stores around here didn't seem too… well, I doubted the two would be there. So I kept walking.

"So, where to?"

That was the nobody's voice. I spun in their direction; seemed they were just leaving some clothing store. His companion smiled, replying with, "How about the Build A Bear Workshop?" as she took a shopping bag out of his hands.

He nodded, then walked more quickly than she in the direction of the store. I may not be the expert on shopping with girls, but you normally don't walk faster than her. I waited for them to walk in, then following them inside the store.

As I busied myself with the display, I watched them out of the corner of my eye. Well, they'd be young lovey-dovey couple of the year in a heartbeat. Good for them. But where was Naminé…? She didn't seem to be anywhere nearby.

I walked out of the store. There she was, standing breathlessly outside as she watched them.

"Naminé?"

She jumped. Blinking as she looked over at me, she whispered, "Oh… it's just you."

There were tears streaming down her face. (What the heck happened while I was with Hayner?) For some reason, I was compelled to hold her against me, my hands wiping her tears away.

"Naminé," I muttered. "What happened?"

"I… thought we still had a chance," She whispered, her head leaning on my chest. "But I never guessed he liked her, the girl next door. Was it… wrong of me to hope?"

I ruffled her hair. "No. But did you even like him for him? Or because he was a piece of Sora?"

"H-How did you know…?"

"I'm not an idiot," I smiled weakly. "I saw the looks you gave him last year. So what if Roxas likes another girl? Chin up, Naminé."

She smiled weakly. "…. Thank you, Riku."

"No problem," I let go of her, letting her weakly lean against my arm. "So… you wanna go look for sketchbook pages now?"

"That would be nice. Hey, um…. Can we stay here a bit longer in the morning? I want to go do something after we visit the mansion."

"Sure," I responded, starting the walk towards the mansion. The walk was silent, but it didn't feel bad or weird. We said all that we needed to; what else was there to say? The town felt like a moving blur, even though we were walking slowly.

I don't remember how long it took to reach the mansion's open gates, or how long it took to get inside. It feels like a dream to recall them, if only because I never thought I'd be here so soon.

I started to climb the stairs. Turning to Naminé, I beckoned, "Oy, you wanna go to your room?"

She smiled, catching up with me. "That'd be nice. You think that there'd be some pages there?"

"Probably," I replied, opening the doors for us. "They're like homing pigeons, flocking home."

She giggled, pulling out her sketchbook. The wall was filled with pages and color, yet they weren't the ones she was looking for. I walked around her table, gently taking off two pages that had probably come in through the window.

Another page was stuck in the window. She saw it first, smiling as she gently released it from its cage.

"Three in this world," She said. Glancing at the fireplace's mantle, she immediately ran to it, taking off the drawings. "Hey, Riku? Could you give me those pages? I want to tape them up on the wall."

I handed them to her; I smiled softly as she tacked them up to the wall in a graceful manner only she could accomplish. Once she had finished, she immediately led me out of the room before I could even take a closer look. The page she'd taken from the window? She hadn't tacked it up, instead taking a picture from her new sketchbook. I saw her toss it into her bag, but said nothing. What could I say?

"Why won't you let me see?"

She blushed, looking away. "Cause. I don't think you'd be too interested in them."

Hmm. Were they too embarrassing for her? I smirked slightly. "Fine, fine. I'll just have to come back later, right?"

Her face matched Kairi's hair quite nicely. "Riku!"

I laughed, opening the door to the Library. As we went downstairs, I replied, "Kidding, Naminé. You should've seen the look on your face!"

She sighed, shaking her head lightly. We entered the computer room. Naminé immediately placed both hands over her ears. "It… hurts," She murmured. "I.. don't know why… it's ringing…"

I blinked; I hadn't heard anything. "Ringing? Ringing what?"

"Eleven days," She weakly responded, her feet shakily moving to the computer. "Eleven days."

"Naminé! You... you okay?"

She nodded, scanning the computer – it apparently was connected to her pain. Then, it happened. Her eyes widened; her body shook even more.

"Naminé!" I didn't know what was going on. She wobbled towards me; I just barely caught her in my arms.

She looked up at me with a weak smile. "I'm fine, Riku. Let's hurry up and keep looking... so that we can tell Roxas tomorrow." She whispered as she closed her eyes.

I cursed under my breath. How much pain could one world give this girl?

_**Eleven Nights Left**_.


	4. Night Three

_Author's Note: _Oh man... I bet a lot of you thought that I was dead, yes? Thankfully that wasn't the case: I was just busy with school and family and my computer crashed (with this chapter too). I'm sorry this took so long! I can't promise the next one will be immediate, but I can at least promise that it probably won't take about nine to ten months to finish again. This one's a little long to compensate, so I hope you enjoy it!

_Disclaimer_: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, all right? This story wouldn't be up here if I did.

**Night Three**

Huh? Where am I? Last thing I remember was that computer ringing over and over again. Eleven days, it said. Eleven days, eleven days. I wish I didn't know what it meant. I could've gone on my journey without a single bit of regret.

But I knew. I read the words flashing on that computer. There was only eleven - no, ten now - days left until Kairi and I would become one person again. No offense intended to her, but I had unfinished business to take care of.

I... didn't need this to distract me. It just hurt really, really badly. I thought he'd wait for me; that he wanted to be part of my life like I wanted to be part of his. Then again, he had always looked at her differently. He told me once, "You know how you have that one friend? Who's always supporting you, even if you don't realize it? ... I think those friends are the most amazing people in the world."

At the time, I didn't realize he was talking about _her_. (Maybe it was wistful thinking on my part - maybe I thought that we had a chance. That his lack of a heart would make him fall in love with me, as ironic as that sounds.) So I was left in the dust. I don't exactly hate her - she had nothing to do with all of this.

But that was what I hated most about her. She just innocently smiled and went on with her life - and ruined mine without even knowing about it.

... Enough of thinking about her. Dark thoughts won't help me gain my sketchbook pages; dark thoughts don't suit me. I don't like hating people - it seems so weird and foreign, as if I need a heart to experience these feelings. (Well, I technically had one now with Kairi, didn't I?)

I still didn't know where I was. Opening my eyes, I stared up at the ceiling. Another hotel room?

I don't remember coming back to a hotel room. Slowly sitting up, my eyes moved to the sleeping figure in the chair. Even as he was sleeping, he still crossed his arms. Riku... you brought me back here?

He was the only one who could've - I knew that. It just seemed so unlike him in theory; he always wanted to be that cool guy who showed off in battle. These were peaceful times, though. He didn't need to brandish his sword and wave it around.

Rising from the bed, I softly placed my sandals on. I'm sorry, Riku, to leave you like this, but there's something I have to do. I knew it from the moment I saw that computer: I have to tell him.

I took the extra room key and slipped it into my pocket; the door wasn't hard to close shut behind me. Leaving this hotel and going out into town wasn't a hard feat: everyone just assumed I was meeting my parents somewhere and left me to my own devices.

The streets weren't too hard to navigate, either: it was just mostly a matter of weaving through the sea of people. I couldn't help noticing the group of three kids heading towards the wealthier part of town. Weren't they... friends of his?

There was Hayner, being loud and boisterous as usual. Pence and that girl hung back; they all laughed and talked about normal things.

"How much further is it to Roxas's house, Hayner," Pence asked with a sigh.

Hayner grinned. "Not much! It's the white house on the corner!"

Roxas? So they _were_ going to visit him. I hung back behind them. If anyone knew where he was staying, it definitely had to be these three. She was becoming fast friends with him, after all. They didn't suspect a thing: I trailed behind them the rest of the way to the house. (Sure, occasionally, they'd look back and see my shadow, but not much else)

Spotting window shutters on the side of the house, I made my way towards it and entered the house through them. I admit, it wasn't a very smart move since I was wearing my old dress at the time, but I somehow made it into the room. There were small red buds in the flower vase. I immediately recognized them as coral bells.

And he was there, staring at those coral bells. Who knew that he suffered from such a bad case of bedhead? I stifled a giggle and sat down in one of those beanbags.

"They're coral bells, Roxas. Telling you that you have a challenge in store for you."

He stared at me. I met his eyes, offering him a reassuring smile.

"N-Naminé..."

Rising from the beanbag, I took out my new sketchbook and stood beside his bed. "It's a shame that we both only have ten days left, Roxas," I began ruefully. "And after ten days, we'll merge with them unless..."

I didn't want to finish that sentence. He gave me a look of disgust - since he obviously wanted to know what I was talking about.

"What do you mean, ten days?"

I turned away from him and faced the door. "You'll figure it out, Roxas... Go to the source..."

And with that, I turned the doorknob and left the room as silently as I had come in. I could hear him mutter, "... What's that supposed to mean?" as I shut the door behind me. Poor guy. He really knew nothing about our situation.

Unfortunately for me, I came face-to-face with a young woman, possibly in her early thirties.

She amusedly crossed her arms, staring at me. "Hm? Were you here to visit Roxas?"

Oh dear. If I answered the truth here, this certainly wouldn't go well. Come on, think! What would this lady buy as an excuse?

Wait, wasn't she a--

"Acne cream!" I immediately blurted out for lack of anything else to say.

Up went her eyebrows. "Huh?"

"I-I was looking for acne cream! You're a doctor, right? I'd heard from my doctor that you were really good with acne, so maybe..."

To my surprise, she chuckled. "Of course I have some. You didn't have to sneak around for it, you know. I won't bite."

Taking my hand, she led me towards the front door. "Hold on a sec," She smiled as she gently let my hands go. How could someone be so graceful about walking? She seemed to do it all effortlessly - walk, talk, smile; I bet she even cooked gracefully.

It was a shame that I couldn't see her hand medicine elegantly, for I was already out the door by the time she came back with the cream. (I_ could_ hear her sigh and mutter, "Kids. They don't seem to have enough time for anything these days!")

Roxas would be in good hands if this woman - no, lady - could do anything without breaking a sweat. (Or well, it just looked like it.) I mechanically walked back to the hotel and slowly made my way inside. To my surprise, Riku was already there and chatting it up with the concierge.

Do all rich kids know how to converse with hired help?

Noticing me, Riku crossed his arms and sighed. "What took you so long? I was afraid that something'd eaten you."

I couldn't help nervously smiling. "I'm sorry. I had some business to attend to."

"Guess it can't be helped," He ran his hand through his hair. Nodding to the clerk, he walked over to me and took my hand. "Come on. Let's head over to Beast's Castle."

"Oh? Is that the world today?"

"Yeah," He replied, moving me out of the way of an incoming luggage cart. "I already bought breakfast and loaded up the gummi ship, so we should be ready to leave any time. Like... oh, I don't know... now?"

"Sounds good to me." Besides, I really didn't want to stay in this world for too long. Roxas would want to ask me more questions, and I didn't know how long I could hold out when that girl was there.

(I had nothing against her, really! It's just hard to be around someone you thought you loved, you know?)

He raised an eyebrow as we walked out of the hotel. "You're really ready? No last minute shopping or anything?"

"Yeah. All ready."

"All right, then. Off to Beast's Castle it is."

#

For a supposedly gloomy, desolate, dark world, the world sure was sunny. I could feel the rays on my skin; the flowers swayed to an unintelligible beat that pulsed throughout the small village.

So this was Belle's home. The cute, gingerbread-like homes all stood along the cobblestone streets. It felt exactly like a fairy tale brought to life, with the people humming songs under their breath as they strolled aimlessly towards their friends and gossiped to their friends.

The women stared at me and Riku as we passed them. (So we were the source of their gossip? This was slightly embarrassing.) Riku didn't even give them a moment's glance, but I felt suddenly naked.

I knew my dress was slightly out of place, but really? Did we look like total strangers? I could feel their eyes poring holes into my body. Please let this end soon...

"Hey, Naminé?"

I blinked, stopping so that I could walk alongside him. "What's up?"

He put his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about what they think," He said with a small smile. "I thought the Naminé I knew didn't care about stuff like that."

"I don't, really," I replied, sure that my face was as red as the tulips, "But it just feels awkward being the center of town gossip."

He shrugged. "Don't worry about it. From the looks of it, we're the only visitors this place has seen in a long time. It's only natural that they'd gossip."

I let the words sink in. Only natural... yeah, perhaps that was it. We were complete strangers to this village! They were just curious, and we couldn't really provide them the answers at this point. I clasped my hands together and let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah," I whispered. "You're right. Thanks."

He nodded, his eyes still intently studying the entire town. What was he looking for? A small flyer caught the corner of my eye. Picking it up, I read it (or well, I tried to read it to the best of my knowledge).

"... Mm," I sighed in defeat, nearly ready to crumple the paper.

In that instant, he took it from my hands and smoothened it out. Reading to himself, he let a smile dance across his face. "Looks like we've hit it," He said cheerfully.

I blinked. "What did it say?"

"There's going to be a wedding between Prince Adam and Belle this evening. Everyone in town's invited to their wedding reception - including us."

It didn't take even a minute for the wheels to click. I beamed up at him. "Really? You think they'd be there?"

"Well, what else is important in this town? I don't even think they have an art store."

I giggled softly to myself. "Sounds great. Where do you think we can look for a dress?"

He blinked. "Huh?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten, Riku! We have to dress nicely for tonight. And that means wearing something comfortable so that we can dance, and finding a corsage... not to mention--"

"Naminé, it's not a high school prom."

I blushed, immediately looking up to the sky. "But it'll be fun, nevertheless." Even if the town would stare at us, I couldn't help skipping in the direction of the nearest formal wear store. It would be easy to forget Roxas admist all this activity! And even if we didn't find that sketchbook page (but I tried not to think about it. I really did!), we would be all right.

If nothing else, an evening of fun would suit my suddenly sullen companion. He wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the afternoon: only nod and slightly acknowledge me as I took charge and rented our outfits for the evening. The rest of the town was more than happy to help us out - no doubt they mistook us for an eloping couple - attend, and we received directions multiple times.

The carriage ride to the castle was equally silent. Instead of the usual conversation that had multiple silences, Riku just stared out the window, occasionally muttering, "Huh," to himself. I don't mind silences.

They make it easier for me to think. But! Wasn't tonight supposed to be fun? (I'm not going to lie. I really wanted this experience to be like the high school proms Kairi had fond memories of. She seemed to enjoy herself so much at these dances... I just wanted a little piece of it.)

And then we were escorted into the top of the ballroom. I couldn't help it anymore. I needed to talk to Riku.

I marched over to him, immediately putting my arms around his. "Riku? Is there something wrong with this wedding?"

He plastered on a grin as he replied, "No. I'm fine." I could tell that he was lying. If he were so calm about all of this, he wouldn't be staring all around the room.

I sighed. Was he ever going to tell me what was going on in that head of his?

Unfortunately, that's when I spotted him. "Riku," I hissed.

He blinked. "Naminé...?"

I pointed to the slow-moving blur of brown, black, and white down below. "Isn't that... Sora...?"

Riku's face paled. "So it is. I didn't think he'd be here... this must've been the wedding he was talking about attending..."

"You knew, and you didn't tell me?"

"I-it's not like that," He insisted. "It's more like I thought he was going to his aunt's wedding. Not Belle's!"

O-oh, this was a pickle. Not because of the sketchbook pages, but because Sora was here: neither of us thought that he still would be traveling to other worlds. (Well, it was summer vacation, after all) That, and we had.. sorta kinda... left without informing either him or Kairi.

Thus, they still thought that Riku had left to go attend some boring seminar, and I was stll part of Kairi.

We were doomed, weren't we?

"Not so fast," Riku grinned. "Isn't this guy estranged from other royalty?"

I blinked. "I suppose so--"

"Good. Then we'll just be Count and Countess Kingsford for the evening."

Countess Kingsford... wait, did that mean that I'd have to be Riku's ... wife? I could feel the blood rushing to my face already.

Ignoring my red face, he whispered something into the doorman's ear. Confidently taking me to the edge of the stairs, he grinned as we slowly descended the stairs.

"Presenting Count and Countess Kingsford!"

All eyes were on us. I couldn't help that nervous smile that flashed across my face; I was so sure that Sora and Kairi were immediately going to expose us for who we really were.

However, that wasn't the case. The keyblade bearer immediately ran up to us, a grin on his face as he brought his girlfriend beside him.

"Hey," He said.

I could feel Riku shaking, even as he confidently replied, "Good evening," in a flawless foreign accent to the keyblade bearer. (We didn't bother to even disguise our hair color! Surely we'd be exposed--)

"Are you... related to someone named Riku?" Kairi questioned, smiling as brightly as her escort. "We just noticed that you looked a lot like him."

The shaking stopped immediately. Riku nodded, flashing a smile back at her. "Why yes. Would you two happen to be Monsieur Sora and Mademoiselle Kairi? I've heard so much about you from him."

Sora and Kairi exchanged excited glances, then eagerly nodded.

"What kind of stories," Sora crossed his arms, though that eager smile couldn't be wiped off his face. "Cause if he told you anything embarrassing about me, I've got plenty to tell you--"

I couldn't help it. I laughed.

Kairi confusedly looked over at me. "You're... Count Kingsford's wife, right?"

"Yes," I replied, trying to sound a little higher-pitched than normal. "It's just that... Monsieur Riku said nothing but positive stories about you, Monsieur Sora."

Wow, I didn't think his grin could get even brighter. "Seriously? I'm glad that he thinks of me in that way."

"Heh," Riku leaned over and ruffled Sora's hair. "You two are best friends, right? Of course he'd speak of you positively."

"Yeah," Kairi agreed. Noticing the sudden increase in dancers, she turned to Sora. "Looks like they're all dancing? Shall we, Sora?"

Embarrassingly nodding, Sora apologized before walking to the other side of the dance floor with his date. He took her hand, and they began to dance. I can't really explain how he did it, but it was magical. I didn't think that he could dance! He seemed like such a klutz.

Riku couldn't help grinning as he watched. "Seems like he's the same old Sora as always."

"Yeah."

Silence threatened to break our conversation into pieces. I immediately seized our chance as I pointed to some of the servants nearby. "Come on, let's ask them to show us around."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

"It'll be fine," I insisted, already dragging him over to the side of the ballroom. "They'll agree to it if we say we're friends of Sora's."

I felt bad taking advantage of Sora's name like this, but it had to be done. I mean, it was for a good cause, right? So there really wasn't much room for disagreement.

I tapped a servant on the shoulder and started to speak. "Excuse me--"

"Countess Kingsford?"

Argh, why did Sora have to be there? I nervously nodded, turning to face him.

"Are you looking for something," He said, giving the servant (he was pretty young to be a servant, really - I mean, he couldn't be more than eight!) a look. "I can help."

"I want to see the library," I admitted, clutching Riku's hand even tighter. "I'm looking for something."

Sora grinned. "That'll be easy! What're you looking for?"

Just like that, he started to ascend the long staircase, taking us by our hands. He may seem like he was asking just to make sure, but... really? He was just asking for the sake of asking. At times like this, I couldn't help feeling even more flushed.

He was incredibly sweet. No wonder Kairi loved him.

"Some artwork," Riku cut in for us, nearly forgetting that foreign accent. "My wife's quite interested in this castle's huge collection of literature, and would love to take a look at some."

"Ohhh," Sora nodded knowingly. "That makes sense. I didn't think that people were so into art."

Riku and I exchanged glances. Sora couldn't help smiling at us (I wonder why? We just looked at each other) as he led us into the rather large room. Almost immediately, a large wrapped present caught my eye. Running over to it, I kneeled and stared at the tag.

"For Naminé?"

Sora nodded as he leaned against the wall. "You guys are decent at making yourself look different, but I think I'd know my best friend when I see him."

Putting his arms around my shoulder, Riku sighed. "I'm sorry, Naminé. I wanted to surprise you... and it backfired, huh?"

"I'll admit," Sora replied. "It was weird watching you freak out, Naminé. Riku had said that you were a really calm person."

I flushed, not daring to look anywhere else but the blue wrapping paper. "S-surprise me?"

"Yeah. You've always wanted to attend a wedding, right?" Riku questioned, letting me fall into his arms. "And Sora called this morning to tell me that he had run into some of your pages."

"You... told Sora?"

I must've been seething, because Sora immediately cut in with a nervous, "I asked him! He didn't spill the beans on purpose, Naminé!"

"I see."

"In any case... you've got all your art from Beast's Castle. Good luck finding the rest." With that, he waved as he headed back towards the party.

"Sora?"

He blinked, turning back to face me.

"Thank you."

Grinning, he motioned towards Riku. "Don't thank me. This was all Riku's idea! I just helped put it into motion."

"Mm. Thank you both, then."

I got up, set the present aside, and held my hand out towards Riku. "Well then? Count Kingsford?"

"What?"

"Do you want to dance? If we hurry, we'll be in time for the last one."

He rose, taking my hand, and escorted me out of the empty room. "I'll try," He muttered as we descended down the stairs again.

The wheels started clicking; I couldn't help laughing as he let go of my hand. "Don't tell me... you can't dance?"

He didn't reply, instead choosing to head to the drinks table. I took that as a 'yes'. Poor thing... no matter how hard he tried to help me find his pages, he forgot that he couldn't dance.

Running so that I was beside him, I smiled. "It's all right. I can't dance either."

"Then you don't mind having four left feet?"

"Not at all," I said as I took his hand and walked to the middle of the ballroom floor. "It's more fun that way. Try to look like you know what you're doing, okay?"

He grumbled, but gave in as we twirled across the floor. This was our first - and last - dance, but I didn't want it to end anytime soon. For when it did, our search - and my time - would soon come to an end.

_**10 Nights Left**_.


	5. Night Four

_Author's Note: _Well, I'm not dead, as you can see with the inclusion of this next chapter. I'm so sorry to those who were waiting for this chapter (if there's still any readers left! Man, I really did leave you guys hanging.) I'm gonna really try to get the next few chapters going, but I'm a little stuck on the next one, so please bare with me. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!

_Disclaimer:_ Kingdom Hearts is the property of Square-Enix and Disney. I'm just borrowing these characters for a fic, okay?

**Night Four**

She was still singing about last night. I couldn't blame her; she'd finally fulfilled one of her (short) life's dreams. Girls really were fond of the whole wedding experience. The cutting the cake, the first dance, the toast to the bride and groom?

They relished every single moment, with photographers behind them every step of the way.

Personally? I'd hate to be the groom at a wedding. What was so special about getting married anyway? It was like declaring your love to the whole world. It only really mattered to the person standing right beside you at the aisle. But... then again, I'm not exactly a fan of the whole wedding ceremony in the first place.

After the reception last night, we spent the night at one of the inns in town before having a final breakfast with both Sora and Kairi.

(What was it about bringing Naminé to breakfast that made everything so... awkward?) I knew Sora and Kairi were _finally_ dating, but to the extent that it felt lovey-dovey? Give me a break. I didn't think they'd be the kind of people to give each other sickeningly sweet nicknames and hold hands together in public.

It had made our first French breakfast very, very awkward. Naminé agreed. We tried to leave with some excuse about touring the world; Sora, obviously, knew better.

"I hope you find all those pages, Naminé," He called as we left the cafe (but not before we paid for our meal), that goofy grin still stuck on his face. Jeez. You'd think that it would disappear once he turned sixteen. But nah. Fate had decided it was fond of that goofy grin and kept it there.

Oh well. At least I could still tease him about it.

Our next location was Olympia, the world of the gods. Belle's world had had books on the subject, calling them 'Greek gods' who had people worshipping the very ground they walked on. Sora had asked me about this once, when we were in the library reading all those old books, since he wanted to know how I felt about almighty, powerful gods.

To be honest, I don't know what to think. Of course they existed, if my current location had anything to say about it. But something all powerful? Almighty? I don't know. If they did indeed exist, wouldn't they have interfered with Kingdom Hearts six months ago?

Maybe it differed from world to world. They might be all-powerful in Olympia, but their powers were severely diminished in other places like Beast's Castle and Hollow Bastion. Either that, or they strongly believed in the world order Donald and Goofy had tried so hard to keep. (Not that they'd been doing a very good job of it, but who could blame them? They did travel with Sora.)

Our arrival in Olympia was surprisingly low-key, considering I was the only guy in town that wore pants.

Needless to say, Naminé quickly bought me the local fashion and insisted that I changed. (It wasn't like we were going to be here for very long!) Of all the times she had to insist on following the world order...

The marketplace felt lively. We walked casually among the aisles, watching people barter with the shopkeepers. Namine giggled to herself as we passed a vendor selling goat cheese and olives. I gave her a confused look.

"What's up?"

She blushed, squirming a little as she looked at the next few vendors. "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking... about things."

Oh really now. I grinned, "What kind of things?"

"Just. Stuff."

It was honestly too easy. "Oh?"

Pouting, Naminé bought some bread and olive oil from a nearby vendor. "Riku, it's really nothing."

I broke off a piece of bread. "If you say so," I replied, waving the piece of bread in her face. "But it sure sounds like it was pretty funny."

"Well," She began, biting into the warm bread. "I was just thinking. Where would you find my art in this world?"

"That doesn't sound like it'd be that funny," I countered.

"I'm getting there," She retorted. "This world is so ancient that my art's probably unlike anything they'd ever seen."

Oh god. She wasn't suggesting--- "You don't mean..."

"That it might be worshipped? It's a possibility."

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing, trying my best to muffle it with my free hand. "You're kidding me."

She smiled innocently. "It's always a possibility."

"Your art... worshipped by thousands of people..." Yes, I was still laughing. The thought was just too ridiculous to let go. Who would worship Naminé's art? No offense intended, but her art wasn't exactly amazing. It was like a child's drawing. It wouldn't be amazing and as awesome as the sculptures in Belle's books.

"Or at the very least, put in a museum," Naminé quipped. "I was just thinking. No need to laugh so hard."

I honestly tried to stop laughing. It was just nearly impossible. She frowned at me, before walking even more swiftly in the direction of the nearest monument. I finished off my bread before following her. The streets weren't too crowded at this time of day; I could easily make her and her white toga out amongst the townspeople.

(It also helped that we both had extremely light-colored hair. Everyone else appeared to be dark-haired.) The townspeople also stared at us as we made our way through. One even stopped Naminé and asked in extremely broken English, "You two married?"

We exchanged nervous glances before hurriedly saying that no, we were not married. And no, we were not planning to be married within the next year, thank you very much.

She pouted as I caught up to her. "Why do these worlds keep thinking we're married?"

"Bad karma, I guess," I shrugged. "You were redder than I was."

She glared at me. Rolling my eyes, I took her hand and dragged her the last five hundred feet to the monument. The writing was also foreign and hard to make out. Naminé, however, smiled as she read the caption at the statue's feet. "It's of Hera," She remarked. "This world's goddess of marriage and women."

No wonder the townspeople were asking if we were married. Figures that she was the first statue we had to see. (But we weren't married. Or planning on getting married. For God's sake, we weren't even eighteen!)

"This is also her temple," Naminé added after I stopped groaning to myself. "You can smell the sacrifices, can't you?"

No offense intended, but it was pretty much impossible to miss the scent of burning cow carcasses. It _stunk_. "No," I sarcastically replied. "It smells too nice to miss all together!"

She frowned, walking in without saying a single word. What was it with women and their inability to figure out when we were joking? I followed her in, ignoring our footsteps as we passed through the dimly lit hallway to the giant chair in the middle of the room.

There was a woman tending to the fire beside the chairs; she waved at us and smiled gently. "Would you like to pray to Hera?"

Namine looked towards me for help. I shrugged, pushing her towards who I assumed was the priestess. "She'd like to," I called. "We're looking for something and figured..."

The priestess raised an eyebrow at me. "You know, men are more than welcome to pray to Hera. Especially if you're married."

"But we're not married," Naminé and I both protested in unison. We exchanged nervous glances before Naminé hurriedly explained, "He's um... actually my brother. We were just traveling." (We were now related? Eh. It'd keep people from assuming we were romantically involved.)

"Ah, a family... perhaps you should pray to Hestia later," The priestess smiled. "But you can still pray to Hera, sir. She'll accept all prayers."

Was I actually getting pressured into praying to a goddess? I sighed, but exasperatedly knelt down before the fire. I had no idea what I should say, but I figured it'd be a good idea to mention Naminé somewhere in there. Please let Naminé find all of her sketchbook pages, Hera. I have no idea if you exist or not - or even if you're a real goddess - but help would certainly be nice.

Naminé too knelt down beside me, but she stayed longer than I did.

As we were about to leave, the priestess added, "Aren't you going to sacrifice something to Hera?"

Sacrifice? Oh yeah, Belle's books had briefly mentioned something along those lines. But what on earth were we supposed to sacrifice to her? As if she were reading my mind, the priestess deftly took our fresh olives and bread and fed them to the fire.

Naminé gasped in horror as she watched the bread burn. I groaned mentally (that bread was expensive!) as I watched my money go up in flames. "Hera, like most of our deities, love the smell of burnt food," She explained as we left. "Have a pleasant evening!"

"Yeah, right," I grumbled as more patrons passed us into Hera's temple. "That was expensive bread."

"And very wasteful," Naminé added mournfully. "You think the gods and goddesses would've come up with better methods of sacrifices..."

(Was it sad that I really did care more about the loss of money than food? Probably.)

"So," I began. "Hestia, right? But maybe we should go scour those art stores first. Your pictures might show up there."

She nodded in agreement. "Should we buy more bread and olives?"

"No. The other gods will just burn it first," I immediately replied, making a face.

Naminé giggled and sent me an amused look, but said nothing as we wove through the busy crowds. Didn't really help that the streets stunk or that the townspeople were always in a hurry. It took us at least half an hour to find that art store, and we were stared at again once we walked in.

"Hello," The shopkeeper greeted us. Once he got a better look at our light hair, his eyes widened and he then added, "You're not from around here, are you?"

"No," Namine admitted with a slight blush. "We're looking for art supplies, sir."

He motioned over to the rows of quills, pigment, and clay. Naminé acknowledged him with a polite nod before she followed his gaze over to the rows of supplies. I hung back by the entrance. It was pretty obvious that I wasn't much of an artist; I couldn't tell the difference between different types of clay, and I certainly didn't know how to mix pigments together.

Within minutes, Naminé came back to me and shook her head. "It's not here." Turning to the shopkeeper, she apologetically smiled as she took me out the door, calling, "I apologize for taking up your time, sir!"

"Now what?"

"Perhaps we could pray to Hestia after all," Naminé shrugged. "Or to the god of art, whoever that may be."

"Probably Apollo," I mused. "He's the god of a lot of things like music and poetry and medicine. How far's his temple from here?"

Naminé shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe an half hour's walk?"

I frowned. Of all the worlds to get stuck in... it had to be the one without much modern technology. That stunk. And we couldn't really rely on the reputation of the keyblade here; this wasn't the Underworld. Or the Olympus Coliseum, for that matter. Were we really stuck between the two worlds?

Belle's book had said that this place, Athens, was the mortal ground. It was between Mount Olympus, home of the gods, and the Underworld, which was Hades' domain as well as the home of the deceased. Athens was just home to mortals like us. ... That would probably explain why we looked so weird. They'd never seen people quite like us.

Upon stopping in front of Apollo's temple, we saw a woman sitting on the front steps. She looked vaguely familiar; I couldn't quite place where I had seen that purple toga or deep chestnut hair before. Naminé, however, decided to walk up to her.

"Um, excuse me. Is this Apollo's temple?"

The woman blinked, looking up at her. "Huh? Oh, yeah. This is definitely her temple, hon. What business do you have here?"

"I'm here because I'm an artist," Naminé smiled. "... Unfortunately, I've lost some of my paintings, so my brother and I thought we'd pray to Apollo for help."

"An artist," The woman's face softened. But then she remembered the second part of Naminé's words and blinked. "Lost your paintings? Were they on plates or something? They'd be a little hard to lose if they're on the wall..."

Naminé stared. "On the wall? I-I painted them on paper."

"What's paper?"

Oh jeez. They didn't even have paper? Naminé blushed, but explained, "It's kind of like... a material that we can write and draw on? And ink will stay on and it's portable, so you can take it places."

"Kinda like papyrus, huh," The woman grinned. "My boyfriend just walked in with something like that. He thought it'd make a good sacrifice to Apollo."

Naminé gave me a horrified look before hurriedly dashing into the temple. "What the heck," She muttered to herself before she completely disappeared. "He couldn't!"

I smirked, "He's not really going to sacrifice her drawings, is he?"

"Herc's a little on the slow side," The woman admitted, "But he wouldn't sacrifice them without making sure Apollo knew the truth behind them." She paused for a moment, studying me over. "You really _aren't_ her brother, are you?"

"... Not really," I confessed. Crossing my arms, I added, "But it got the townspeople off our backs. I'm Riku, by the way. My friend's Namine."

A look of recognition washed over her face. She immediately stood up and smiled. "You're Sora's friend, aren't you?"

I nodded. "I should've figured... but yeah, it's me."

"He's found you, right?"

"Of course," I grinned. "No worries. It's not my style to just ditch my best friend like that."

"Good. Otherwise I might have to hurt you," She responded with an equally large grin. (I decided that she probably wasn't kidding.) "Name's Megara, but everyone calls me Meg."

We shook hands. I started to descend the stairs, but Naminé came out at that exact moment with a fistful of papers in her hands. A tall, muscular man followed her out; I assumed that was the 'Herc' Meg had mentioned earlier. "Good news, Riku," She beamed as she greeted me. "Hercules here had found all of my paintings! And he was at Apollo's temple to help. Good thing we asked Hera for help, huh?"

Hercules blinked. "Wait, you guys were at Mom's temple earlier?"

Now we both stared at him. "Mom?"

"Yeah," He laughed nervously. "You see... Hera's my mom. And Zeus is my dad. So I'm kinda a demigod?"

(Okay. Sora had definitely omitted this from all his stories. I had a feeling that I was going to grill him about this much, much later. And perhaps give him a couple of headlocks over not telling me the whole story.)

"Wow," I whistled. "That's... pretty cool. Did Hera tell you that we were looking for art?"

"She'd actually found it herself," Hercules shrugged. "Supposedly was a sacrifice to her since the people in the paintings looked like her and Dad. But once she saw you two... she realized it was probably yours, so she wanted me to give it back. But on one condition."

Namine beamed. "I'll do anything!"

"Okay, okay," Herc laughed. "She wants you to paint a mural on her temple wall, preferably of her and her symbol, the peacock."

"Works for me," She cheerfully responded. "Thank you so much, Hercules! I don't know what I would've done if I hadn't found the art."

I laughed, exchanging knowing glances with Meg.

"They're alike, aren't they," Meg commented. "Both with eternally one-track minds."

"Yeah," I chuckled. "So I guess we'll be off to paint that mural?"

"You can stay at my place afterwards for the night," Hercules added. "As thanks for making my mom smile an' all."

"No problem," We both chorused. Naminé's eyes met mine, and I saw her blush briefly before we started on the trek towards the art store again (but hey, at least we'd buy supplies this time!) Meg and Hercules hung back, their arms interlinked as they talked amongst themselves.

"Today was actually pretty good," Naminé remarked to me. I blinked as she took my arm, but said absolutely nothing as we walked into the store.

Considering the worst-case scenario, today hadn't been bad at all. But it felt like every one was going to be eternally long for a while... Jeez. I'll really need a vacation from it all once it's over.

_**Nine Nights Left.**_


End file.
